25 April 2012

The Hammersmith Tory councillors who have sneakily hatched a secret plan - which they have tried to cover up - to ensure Boris's agreement for the loathed Town Hall plans if he wins are the usual roll call of rotters.

They include Stephen Greenhalgh, Nick Botterill, Mark Loveday, Greg Smith and Andrew Johnson. And of course, Harry Phibbs. No such list of shame would be complete without him.

On which note, our attention has been drawn to yet another exposé of El Phibbo in Private Eye (in the 6-19 April issue). Last time, the Eye claimed Phibbs was pompous. This time they reveal he is a hypocrite, enjoying a 60 per cent increase in his allowance while criticising much smaller increases in local council salaries.

The Eye also recalls its description a quarter of a century ago of Phibbs as "The world's most unpleasant Young Conservative". As a grown-up, we'd say he has quite a lot of competition, not least in Hammersmith & Fulham.